Connie Argento-Smith

Dr. Constance Argento-Smith (Connie Smith) is an Assistant Professor of Education and Coordinator of the Urban Outreach Initiative in the Division of Education at Walsh University. She has been with the Division of Education since 2007. Dr. Smith has served as a teacher and administrator in both public and private education. She has experience in teaching higher education courses, as well as being a high school/middle school/elementary school teacher, forensics coach, and elementary school principal/pre-school director. She holds an M.S. Admin. and M.S. Ed. from Ashland University, as well as certification in Elementary and Middle School Administration and her B.S. in English Education (AYA) from Kent State University. Dr. Smith has recently completed a Doctorate of Education in Leadership and Management with a focus on Diversity in higher education.

Teaching

Dr. Smith teaches courses including ECE210 (Introduction to Early Childhood Education), ECE211 (Growth, Assessment and Development in Early Childhood Education), and EDUC255 (Language and Cognitive Development for Licensure areas: Early Childhood Intervention Specialists and Mild to Moderate Education Specialists) and EDUC 264, Educational Psychology. She has also taught higher education courses in communications and speech. Dr. Smith is an advisor for both Early Childhood Education and Early Childhood Intervention Specialist majors and is the coordinator of the Urban Outreach Program for Education at Walsh University.

Scholarship

Dr. Smith has presented and published for both national and international conferences; topics including but not limited to Global Learning initiatives, Israel, June 2011 and Boston November, 2011; Extended Day Programs, NAEYC National Conference, fall, 2011; English as a Second Language, Technology as a hybrid course, including a paper accepted for publication and presentation at an International Conference (eLEARN-AACE) "Hybrid Approaches to the Development of an ePortfolio Learning Community" and a National conference on Global Learning, Fall, 2012. Dr. Smith participates in University initiatives including, The General Education Committee, Diversity Task Force Committee, Diversity Board for the Division of Education, Field Advisory Committee, Teacher Prep Essay Committee, and NCATE Standards 2 and 4 Teams and has traveled to Israel with a Global Learning Partnership in June 2011.

Dr. Smith's research interests include providing academic opportunities and support to local families and community members in impoverished environments, incorporating and understanding the benefits of enrichment programs, incorporating technology in the authentic field based pre-service experience, and recognizing the importance of appropriate field experiences on pre-service teacher candidates when practicing in diverse populations, specifically targeting second language learners, early language learners, children from low socio-economic populations, and students of cultural and linguistic diversity.

Study Abroad Experience

Dr. Smith is currently traveling to Rome, Italy and Athens, Greece, where Walsh University teacher candidates are making their first inaugural trip together in a structured study-abroad platform, visiting classrooms beyond our own borders and exploring education in the 21st century.

Service

Volunteering for diocesan and public schools in her communities, Dr. Smith has initiated a collaborative partnership with The Goddard School, Our Lady of Peace Catholic School, Portage Montessori School, and Imagine Charter School in Canton pairing the Walsh teacher Candidates with young learners in an authentic teaching environment. Dr. Smith is also a board member and Ambassador for the Stark County Early Childhood Resource Center in Canton, Ohio. She is a member of the campus Hybrid Course Learning Community, Education Club Co-Advisor and a member of the following external professional organizations: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), American Association of School Administrators (AASA), the Buckeye Association of School Administrators (BASA), the Ohio Middle School Association (OMSA) and the Society for Information Technology in Teacher Education (SITE), Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and the Canton Chapter, CAAEYC where she hosted Mount Union and Malone Universities at a University-Wide collaborative lesson share in fall 2010. Dr. Smith lives in Magnolia, Ohio where she and her husband of 26 years have raised three children, and many rescue dogs.